


It's not garbage

by otterpops



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-14 18:26:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13595805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/otterpops/pseuds/otterpops
Summary: In semi response to Dan's comments on Super Mario Odyssey,  and E's earlier blog post.Reader visits Dan with a found treasure in hand.





	It's not garbage

**Author's Note:**

> You can thank envelopesyou for this one.

Hopping out of your car, you moved up the sidewalk towards Dan’s house, your new treasure in your purse, and a smile on your face at the prospect of seeing him again this week. Bright California sunshine beamed down on you, the end of a warm day with few clouds. Tapping on the door, you could hear him talking to someone before he opened it. As the door swung inwards, and his soft brown eyes lit up to meet yours, you could see he had his phone pressed to his ear, long slender fingers wrapped around a brightly coloured case. He waved you inside, wrapping up what looked to be a semi-intense call.  
“The whole thing just crashed?”  
Mumbles from the other end.  
“Right, well, Arin just got through security, soo….”  
Affirming mumble.  
Dan sighed, walking back into the house with you trailing him, running his fingers through his hair and arching his back to one side, tension leaving a hard line from the phone to his spine. You shut the door and followed him into the living room, where he was standing in front of the couch.  
“Right, so we’ve got….two more days of footage then. Guess I’ll come in and record some...I dunno, fucking, more Sierra stuff”  
Fainter mumbles on the other side.  
“I’m not fucking recording a horror game solo, dude” He said with a slight smirk but a hard line of his brows. There was a laugh on the other end, and then a question.  
“Yeah, ok, see you later then”  
All in one motion, Dan dropped the phone and then himself onto the couch, moving his hands over his face and letting out a low groan of annoyance. He stretched his long legs out in front of him, arching his back and neck into the soft cushions beneath. You moved to perch next to him on the couch, moving the offending device out of arm's reach so you could be just a little bit closer to him. Finally, after the groaning had stopped, and his hands had fallen away, you spoke.  
“Based on this side of the conversation… I’m guessing something happened with footage?”  
Dan sighed, turning his head towards you, curls flopping dramatically, lips twisted in a half smile, stubble along his dimpled chin.  
“Yeah, we lost about four episodes worth, thankfully they were all one offs, so we at least don’t have any unintended cliff hangers”  
Even knowing he was going to have to give up a bunch of his day to do solo recording, with Arin out of town, he was still worried about the fans. You grabbed his hand in both of yours, running your fingers over the back of his knuckles in a soothing motion.  
“So you need to leave to record right now?” You tried to keep the disappointment out of your voice.  
“No, they’re recording something else right now, I’ll have to go in later...hopefully not too much later” He flopped his head back against the couch again, curls flipping over the back of it and his gaze lifting to the ceiling, puffing out a heavy sigh.  
You moved next to him, lifting his closest arm up and over your shoulders, leaning your head onto his chest. He shifted slightly up and smiled, kissing the top of your head. He reached his other hand across and hugged you tightly, the two of you sharing a quiet moment before he buried his face into the top of your hair, mumbling “Didn’t you have something you wanted to show me?”  
“Oh! Right!” You disentangled yourself gingerly, reaching into your purse and pulling out a battered CD case. His expression fell as it lit upon the blue, yellow, and white sunburst design that was The Northern Hues album in your hands. He forced a smile back onto his face, half joking and half serious as he said “Where did you get that garbage from?”  
Narrowing your eyes, you turned out of his arms so you could look him full in the face, holding up one finger and then another “One, not garbage, two, eBay” you poked him gently in the chest, settling your hand just above the two open top buttons of his shirt, onto his bare skin. He smiled slightly at the prodding, but then tipped his head back and sighed even more dramatically than when he found out he was going to lose more of his already highly sought after time to filming extra grump episodes.  
You tapped your fingers fingers on his chest, drawing his attention back to your face.  
“Hey, I’m fully serious, it’s not garbage, it’s great music. You put heart and soul into this, and I adore it a lot”  
He huffed slightly, pursing his lips and smiling sadly at you. “Yeah, well, you and my other East coast friends seem to be the only ones who ever liked it, can’t help but feel that that’s a pretty clear sign of failure there”  
Frowning, you stood up and loomed over him, placing your hands on either side of his face, leaning down and placing your forehead to his. Moving slowly, kissing first his left temple “It’s” his forehead “not” his right temple “garbage” before gently kissing the tip of his nose. He smiled a little bit, tipping his head up and capturing your lips with his for a sweet kiss. Breaking it gently, you moved behind the couch, gently pressing your fingers into the tops of his shoulders and neck, soothing out the tension and pressing another kiss to the top of his fluffy curls.  
“You gave that album your all, right?”  
He groans in the affirmative, your fingers finding a large knot at the top of his shoulder blade.  
“So that means it’s not garbage. It’s a great album with your beautiful voice”  
He rolls his eyes a little bit at this, but doesn’t protest too much.  
“Do you know how many paintings Van Gough sold while he was alive?”  
He raises an eyebrow at you, smirking a little bit “Are you comparing me to one the most talented painters we’ve seen on the planet?”  
“Yes, shut up” you place another kiss to his forehead. “But really, do you know?”  
He shakes his head in the negative, and you continue on.  
“One. He sold One. Painting.”  
Dan’s eyes widen a little bit at this, and you can see him start to speak, but you open your mouth before he can.  
“Just because something isn’t successful when it ‘should’ be, doesn’t make it any less of a work of art.” You press your fingers further into the stressed out tissue of his neck and upper back. “You bled for that band, give it all and gave up things you shouldn’t have had to to try and make it work” Another kiss on his temple as he closed his eyes slightly under your ministrations. “Please don't say things like that about your old stuff, ok? I'm sorry it was so hard on you, you gave so much of your soul to the music, and it didn't pay off at the time. But it's beautiful, it still holds up, and there’s more people than just me and your East Coast friends and family that adore it” You moved your hands up into his hair, gently fluffing and scratching his scalp as you spoke. He smiled, reaching up and catching your wrists, leading you back around the couch to stand in front of him again. He pulled you closer so you had the very welcome option of sitting down next to him. He sat up fully, moving his hands to your shoulder and thigh, before running his fingers through your hair and pulling you closer, kissing you gently but insistently. Pressing his forehead to yours, he spoke softly “Can I un-shut up again?” giggling a little bit as his lips breathed the words against yours. You hummed in fake indecision, before speaking a soft “yes” back against his lips. He pulled a little bit away from your face, soft brown eyes meeting yours, hair in a wild halo around his face from your earlier petting.  
“Thank you, seriously. It means a lot to hear you say you liked that stuff...even if I’m not happy with it now, or….that I wasn’t happy with what it took to get it made back then” He looks to the side, lips twisted at the long ago heartache of his old band. You lean forward and kiss the worried dimple at the corner of his mouth, feeling it morph into a smile under your lips. “Hey, of course. You know I’m always here to cheer you on, and to be immensely proud of all the things you do. From the serious stuff to the silly dick stuff”  
His eyes widen in mock offense. “Madame, I’ll have you know dick stuff is INCREDIBLY serious” he says, trying to keep a stern face and failing horribly.  
“Oh, of course, my DEEPEST apologies sir, I forgot who I was talking to” You make a small bow towards him, also trying and failing to hide your smile. “But for now, we must move onto something just as INCREDIBLY important, and maybe even more so than dick stuff”  
His eyebrows fly up in surprise at your change of pace “More important than dick stuff? Perish the thought!”  
Your smile shifts to a grin as you eye him appreciatively, all long limbs and rapt attention on his couch. “Well yeah, we have to decide on vietnamese or thai food for dinner tonight”  
Dan laughs out loud at that, pulling you hard into a huge hug and kissing the top of your head, his apparent funk gone.


End file.
